THE  BLACK  SLAVES 
OF  PRUSSIA 

ITACK  ^^  ^^^^  LETTER  ADDRESSED  TO 

»^^-x  GENERAL  SMUTS 

3 

BY 

074  FRANK  WESTON,  D.  D. 

212  BISHOP  OF  ZANZIBAR 

Head  of  the  Universities'  Mission  in  the  Eastern 
Districts  of  German  East  Africa 


J  ^1  GENERAL  SMUTS  says  : 

2  ==l  'I  have  read  the  open  letter  of  the  Bishop 

7          I  3f  Zanzibar  to  me  with  the  deepest  interest. 

2  ^Sg  t  contains   a  very  solemn   plea  to  the  con- 

^H"  -cience  of  the  British  people,  backed  up  by 

^  m  imposing  array  of  solid  facts." 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 


California  ^"'^  tH'ottsibt  pcerfj*  CambtiUBt 

,  1918 

Regional 
acility 


Fr&m  General  Smuts  to  the  Secretary 

of  the  Universities'  Mission  to  Central  Africa. 


General  Smuts'  Headquarters, 
Savoy  Hotel, 

London,  W.C. 

ISth  January,  1918. 

Dear  Mr.  Travers, 

I  have  read  the  Open  Letter  of  the 
Bishop  of  Zanzibar  to  me  with  the  deepest 
interest.  It  contains  a  very  solemn  plea  to 
the  conscience  of  the  British  people,  backed  up 
by  an  imposing  array  of  solid  facts. 

Yours  sincerely, 

{Signed)  J.  C.  SMUTS. 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF 
PRUSSIA 

Magila  Mission 

MuHEZA,  Tanga 
November  7th,  1917 
Dear  General  Smuts, 

You  will  not  be  surprised,  I  think,  to  hear  that  we 
who  live  in  German  East  Africa  are  becoming  anxious 
about  the  fate  of  the  colony. 

The  British  Government  and  its  Allies  have  spoken 
with  decision:  they  have  pledged  their  honour  that 
they  will  fight  till  liberty  is  established  throughout 
the  world;  until  no  one  weak  people  is  oppressed  by  a 
stronger  race.  And  the  President  of  the  United  States 
has  given  the  authority  of  his  great  country  to  this 
solemn  pledge. 

But  there  are  signs  that  some  in  England  and  on  the 
Continent  are  ready  to  end  the  war  before  this  lib- 
erty is  established.  A  desire  for  a  quiet  life,  and,  I  sup- 
pose, a  lust  for  money  seem  to  outweigh  in  some  minds 
the  value  of  liberty;  and  tempt  men  to  dishonour  the 
sacrifice  of  blood  and  sweat  that  others  have  offered 
\n  its  cause. 

We  are,  therefore,  becoming  really  anxious  both  for 
our  Africans'  future  and  for  the  honour  of  our  coun- 
try. We  are  afraid  that  Africa  will  be  enslaved  to  Ger- 
many. We  are  afraid  lest  a  small  peace  party  cause 
our  rulers  to  break  their  imperial  pledge  to  establish 
liberty  or  die. 

It  seems  right,  therefore,  that  some  one  who  knows 
German  East  Africa  should  publish  the  true  facts. 


2112090 


4         THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

And  I  desire  to  address  these  facts  to  yoUj  Sir,  for 
two  reasons. 

First,  it  is  right  that  they  should  be  set  before  one 
who  has  had  experience  both  of  Africans  and  German 
colonial  rule,  so  that  he  may  understand  the  exact 
points  involved.  And  no  one  of  our  leaders  has  that 
experience  in  the  same  measure  as  you  have. 

And,  secondly,  as  a  missionary  bishop,  I  write  un- 
der a  serious  handicap.  When  missionary  bishops 
speak  of  African  rights,  men  lend  an  unwilling  ear, 
and  "wink  the  other  eye."  You,  Sir,  alone  of  all  our 
leaders,  know  something  of  my  own  attitude  to  Afri- 
cans. If  you  will,  you  can  gain  for  my  case  a  fair  hear- 
ing. For  you  can  testify  that  during  the  time  I  served 
as  a  porter  in  your  East  African  Force,  your  Coast 
Column  took  no  harm  from  my  holding  command  of 
its  African  carriers.  You  can  tell  them  discipline  was 
fully  maintained,  the  work  done  to  time,  and  that 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  load  of  food  or  ammuni- 
tion. 

Shall  Great  Britain  Betray? 

Before  I  pass  to  the  case  against  German  rule  in 
Africa,  there  is  one  point  of  the  greatest  importance. 

Many  thousands  of  German  subjects  in  this  Colony 
have  been  taken  by  Great  Britain  to  act  as  porters  at 
the  front.  They  have  assisted  our  forces  to  kill  or  cap- 
ture their  late  masters.  Great  Britain  took  them;  she 
could  not  do  without  them.  But  the  Germans  had 
published  orders  to  all  the  people,  before  their  retreat 
began,  that  no  one  was  to  help  the  English;  and  that 
any  one  helping  them  would  be  liable  to  execution 
when  the  Kaiser's  Government  returns. 

Is  Great  Britain  prepared  to  betray  these  thou- 
sands to  their  late  masters? 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA        5 

We  called  on  them  to  help  us  fight  for  liberty.  When 
victory  comes,  shall  we  dare  tell  them,  It  was  our  lib- 
erty, not  yours,  we  sought?  God  forbid ! 

But  we  cannot  leave  it  here.  There  is  a  further 
point. 

In  taking  German  subjects  as  our  carriers,  what 
was  our  position  towards  them?  Were  we  out  to  en- 
slave the  conquered  population,  as  the  Kaiser  does  in 
Belgium  and  France?  Were  we  heading  a  rebellion 
of  Africans  against  the  Kaiser?  Or  were  we  taking 
over  the  Colony  in  the  name  of  liberty? 

If  we  hand  the  Colony  back  to  the  Kaiser,  we  stand 
convicted  of  the  very  crime  the  Kaiser  has  committed: 
of  compelling  enemy  subjects  to  help  the  fight  against 
their  own  country.  Is  it  conceivable  we  British  could 
do  that?  And  just  because  the  people  were  not  white? 
Again,  God  forbid ! 

If  we  let  the  Kaiser  have  East  Africa  again,  we  shall 
be  guilty  of  a  monstrous  betrayal  of  thousands  who 
gladly  trusted  us,  and  followed  us  to  the  war. 

A  Personal  Experience 

Let  me  now  turn  to  the  question  of  German  rule  in 
East  Africa. 

I  will  grant,  gladly  grant,  the  efficiency  of  the  Ger- 
man system;  and  acknowledge  no  little  assistance 
from  some  of  the  officials,  from  the  time  they  found 
us  established  here  on  their  arrival  until  within  about 
two  years  of  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  My  business, 
however,  is  not  to  discuss  how  English  missionaries 
get  on  with  German  officials.  We  have  to  enquire  how 
Germans  treat  Africans,  undfer  their  colonial  system. 

What  follows  is  my  own  personal  experience.  I 
record  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  and  know.  What 
the  indictment  would  be  were  several  men  to  write  I 


6        THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

dread  to  think.  Here  is  one  man's  plain  story.  It  may 
be  well  to  add  that  I  am  in  my  twentieth  year  of  resi- 
dence in  East  Africa  and  in  my  tenth  year  as  Bishop 
of  a  considerable  part  of  German  East  Africa;  that  I 
have  many  acquaintances  and  friends  among  Mo- 
hammedan and  heathen  Africans,  and  do  not  live 
merely  among  Christians;  and  that  I  can  speak  with 
the  people  freely  in  our  common  tongue,  Swahili : 

And  the  sum  of  my  story  is  this :  — 

I  will  describe  the  state  of  things  prevailing  in  the 
Colony  before  the  war,  in  ordinary  times  of  peace, 
when  officials  were  at  leisure  to  do  their  best  for  their 
subjects. 

The  officials  are,  in  the  main,  painstaking,  acces- 
sible and  conversant  with  the  customs  of  their  people. 
In  civil  matters  they  are  more  or  less  just  to  the  na- 
tive, and  ready  to  seek  the  facts. 

"  They  Rule  Entirely  by  Fear  " 

Their  failure  is  due  to  their  inbred  cruelty,  which 
they  encourage  their  African  underlings  to  copy.  They 
rule  entirely  by  fear;  and  cruel  punishments  are  their 
means  of  spreading  terror  throughout  the  land. 

For  example.  The  Government  appointed  Labour 
Commissioners  to  check  the  excesses  of  planters.  On 
the  civil  side  they  did  much  useful  work.  But  their 
methods  of  punishing  the  labourers  were  so  cruel  that 
they  undid  the  good  they  accomplished. 

Flogging  is  the  German's  pleasure.  Twenty-five 
lashes  are  given  as  commonly  as  in  London,  on  a  big 
day,  the  police  cry,  "Move  on."  While  fifty  lashes, 
in  two  instalments,  are  very  frequently  given. 

Now  there  are  floggings  and  floggings.  The  Afri- 
can does  not  easily  cry  out.  And  those  who  have  had 
to  pass  Government  Houses  at  flogging  times  will 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA         7 

bear  me  out  that  it  was  no  ordinary  flogging  that  pro- 
duced the  shrieks  to  which  we  had  to  listen.  I  am  per- 
sonally not  averse  from  corporal  punishment:  it  has 
much  in  its  favour.  But  cruelty  is  not  punishment. 
The  German  sjambok,  of  rhinoceros  or  hippopotamus 
hide,  is  cut  to  damage,  not  merely  to  hurt;  the  sol- 
diers who  lay  it  on  are  past-masters  in  the  art;  and 
the  German  himself  presides  at  the  ceremony  to  see 
that  no  mercy  is  given.  To  make  it  still  more  cruel, 
there  is  a  notorious  "law  of  floggings":  I  hope  not 
oflficial,  but  certainly  enforced  by  the  officials.  It  is 
this.  The  condemned  man  is  not  tied  up,  as  he  ought 
to  be.  He  lies  on  the  earth,  his  face  in  the  dust  or  on 
a  hard  floor,  as  the  case  may  be.  After  the  first  two  or 
three  strokes  he  usually  has  to  be  seized  and  forced 
to  keep  still.  If  he  continues  to  wriggle  and  scream, 
he  is  liable  to  receive  the  same  number  of  strokes 
again,  there  and  then. 

V    Flogging  Most  Cruel 

Again,  when  the  punishment  is  over,  if  in  his  pain 
and  excitement  he  forgets  to  come  to  attention  and 
salute  the  German,  he  is  liable,  there  and  then,  to  re- 
ceive the  whole  punishment  again.  Thus  while  the 
law  orders  fifty  lashes  to  be  given  in  two  instalments, 
a  man  gets  fifty  at  one  time :  twenty-five  for  his  offence 
and  twenty-five  for  his  breach  of  etiquette!  Cruelty 
is  a  mild  term  in  which  to  describe  it. 

Torture  is  another  recognized  method  of  dealing 
with  Africans, 

The  Germans  always  accept  the  word  of  their  Afri- 
can underlings  against  a  native.  In  small  cases  a 
flogging  settles  the  matter.  But  if  it  be  a  case  that 
must  go  to  a  higher  court,  or  one  that  involves  stolen 
property,  torture  is  employed  to  produce  confession 
or  evidence. 


8         THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

I  will  give  two  cases  in  my  own  knowledge,  both  of 
them  friends  of  mine. 

(a)  The  first  was  sent  by  his  German  official  into 
the  woods  with  policemen  and  sjamboks,  and  beaten 
day  by  day  for  quite  a  week,  until  his  body  was  a 
mass  of  wounds  and  sores. 

(6)  The  second  was  put  in  the  "iron-hat."  A  band 
of  iron  was  passed  round  his  head,  and  tightened  by 
means  of  a  vice-like  screw,  so  as  to  press  more  espe- 
cially on  his  temples.  The  agony  is  unspeakable. 

Another  dodge  is  to  tie  a  string  to  the  middle  fin- 
ger, pass  it  back  under  and  round  the  forearm,  and 
tighten  —  till  the  man  confesses. 

With  a  sj'stem  such  as  this  the  police  force  can 
usually  supply  a  criminal  to  meet  everj''  case;  and  can 
also  wipe  out  all  private  grudges  they  may  have 
against  their  fellow-subjects. 

In  fact,  the  underlings  are  as  bad  as  their  masters; 
and  no  one  dare  complain.  Revenge  is,  in  my  experi- 
ence, always  taken  on  those  who  venture  to  appeal 
to  the  German. 

Chain-Gang  Torture 

Again,  the  punishment  of  the  chain-gang  is  a  most 
serious  cruelty. 

Eight  men,  or  thereabouts,  are  chained  by  the 
neck  to  one  very  heavy  chain.  They  are  not  unchained 
at  all  till  their  sentence  is  finished.  Day  and  night, 
at  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances,  the  eight  men 
live  and  move  as  one,  while  they  are  entirely  at  the 
mercy  of  the  gaolers,  who  use  on  them  freely  sjambok, 
heavy  nailed  boots,  or  the  butt-ends  of  their  rifles. 
I  have  seen  women  in  chains  of  a  lighter  kind. 

Many  of  my  friends  have  been  through  this;  some 
have  died  under  it.    My  teachers,  who  were  caught 


THE  BLACK  SLA\T]S  OF  PRUSSIA         9 

during  the  war  and  locked  up  because  I  am  English, 
have  also  given  me  their  experience  of  chains.  They 
say  a  flogging  is  preferable:  they  know  because  they 
had  a  taste  of  both. 

Deaths  in  gaol  were  far  too  common.  Sometimes 
the  Germans  would  move  a  whole  set  of  gaolers:  but 
they  did  not  act  unless  things  became  very  bad  in- 
deed. On  this  I  cannot  lay  great  stress,  since  in  the 
nature  of  things  the  deaths  cannot  now  be  proved. 
But  of  the  brutality  and  ill-treatment  there  can  be 
no  question:  there  are  so  many  who  have  suffered  it. 

Methods  of  German  Police 

Germans  encouraged  their  police  in  cruelty.  Even 
in  the  court,  before  conviction,  the  native  was  knocked 
about  by  the  police:  the  Germans  quite  approved.  If 
the  accused,  or  his  witness,  did  not  stand  at  attention 
strictly;  if  he  moved  his  hands  when  making  his  state- 
ment; if  he  called  the  German  "master"  (hwana)  in- 
stead of  "great  master"  (bwana  mkuhwa) ;  if  he  showed 
hesitation  in  answering;  or  did  not  understand  the 
German's  Swahili;  or  if,  as  often  happened,  he  blun- 
dered in  putting  his  own  vernacular  into  Swahili,  the 
police  boxed  his  ears  or  hit  him  with  their  fists.  It 
was  the  custom.  It  exalted  the  German's  dignity. 
That  it  did  not  serve  justice  was  no  matter. 

The  Government  school  teachers  were  brought  up 
in  the  same  way.  They  were  so  often  flogged  them- 
selves at  school,  that  they  became  great  floggers. 
And  a  sjambok,  freely  used,  was  found  necessary  for 
educating  small  boys  of  any  age  from  seven  to  thir- 
teen. And  it  was  laid  on  soundly. 

In  one  case  I  came  on  a  Government  headman  giv- 
ing sjambok  to  a  boy  of  thirteen  for  absenting  him- 
self from  a  German  mission  school.    He  told  me  the 


10       THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

head  of  the  mission  had  secured  an  order  from  the 
District  officer  that  all  absentees  were  to  have  sjam- 
bok from  the  headman! 

It  is  a  disease,  this  flogging.  It  makes  the  Germans 
feared  everywhere:  but  it  poisons  the  German  mind, 
and  the  mind  of  the  African  underling. 

Vicarious  punishment  the  German  loves:  making 
parents  and  wife  suffer  for  the  faults  of  son  or  hus- 
band. And  this  not  for  local  offences  in  which  con- 
nivance is  suspected,  but  for  crimes  done  miles  and 
miles  away. 

Treatment  of  Native  Chiefs 

Another  peculiarly  German  habit  is  the  persecu- 
tion of  native  chiefs.  I  will  give  one  instance  out  of 
several. 

Old  Mataka,  a  Yao  of  great  renown  in  Portuguese 
Nyasaland,  died,  leaving  two  sons.  One  inherited 
the  tribesmen  who  had  crossed  the  Rovuma  into  Ger- 
man territory;  the  other  received  his  father's  own 
district.  The  German  official  in  Lindi  at  once  tried 
to  induce  the  second  man  to  move  with  all  his  people 
into  the  German  sphere.  The  German  Mataka  there- 
fore sent  a  letter  to  his  brother,  warning  him  not  to 
be  such  a  fool  as  to  move.  This  letter  was  seized  at  a 
German  military  post,  read,  and  sent  to  Lindi.  The 
writer,  one  of  the  highest  Yao  chiefs,  a  Sultan  to  his 
own  people,  was  at  once  put  in  chains  with  rigorous 
labour,  and  after  a  short  time  died  in  chains. 

As  a  final  example  of  German  terrorism,  let  me 
add  that  Germans  on  tour  required  as  a  rule  to  be 
supplied  with  a  young  girl  at  each  sleeping-place.  The 
headmen  naturally  do  not  pick  them  from  their  own 
families ! 

These  are  but  a  few  typical  examples  of  the  work- 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA       11 

ing  of  the  German  colonial  system.  It  is  cruel,  relent- 
less, inhuman.  And  the  reason  is  that  it  is  German. 
Some  of  the  administrators  are  pleasant  men,  kindly, 
affable  and  sympathetic  with  their  people  up  to  a 
point.  They  will  even  drink  whiskey  with  a  chosen 
African  here  and  there!  But  once  let  them  become 
official,  and  cruelty  is  the  necessary  attitude. 

"  The  Sjambok  Rtiled  the  Plantation  " 

The  planters  exercised  great  authority  over  their 
labourers.  In  writing,  some  rules  of  restraint  did  exist: 
but  they  were  not  observed  much.  The  sjambok  ruled 
the  plantation  and  the  household.  Fifteen  lashes 
were  quite  easily  earned;  and  twenty-five  was  the 
normal  reward  for  hurting  j'^our  master's  temper.  It 
was  very  difficult  for  an  African  to  appeal  to  the 
Government  against  a  planter.  No  doubt,  it  should 
not  be  made  too  easy.  But  there  are  limits.  The 
penalty  for  making  a  charge  that  was  not  proved  was 
a  year's  imprisonment  and  at  least  fifty  lashes.  This 
I  was  told  by  a  Judge,  in  the  matter  of  a  young  lad 
whose  master  forced  him  to  shameful  practices,  while 
my  observation  is  that  the  penalty  for  proving  a 
charge  was  nearly  as  bad,  since  the  employer  took 
his  revenge  later  at  his  leisure. 

The  reason  of  this  latitude  allowed  to  planters  will 
appear  later. 

To  sum  up  on  this  point.  The  German  method  of 
governing  Africans  is  cruelly  inhuman  and  destruc- 
tive of  the  native's  self-respect.  It  is  exactly  designed 
to  make  him,  and  keep  him,  the  obedient  slave  of  a 
European  power,  for  ever  and  a  day.  The  fear  of  the 
Germans  is  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  natives  that  the 
power  of  initiative  remains  only  with  those  who, 
sharing  in  the  administrations  of  the  country,  act  for 


12       THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

their  own  profit.  As  slavery  the  system  is  splendid. 
Otherwise,  it  is  sheer  cruelty,  and  all  the  Africans  I 
know,  of  whatever  tribe  or  religion,  have  for  years  past 
been  longing  for  the  Germans  to  go  from  their  land. 

The  "  Splendid  "  System  of  Slavery 

In  every  colony  labom*  presents  serious  problems, 
and  many  are  the  proposals  made  for  solving  them. 

The  German  Government  accepted  two.  It  pub- 
licly and  officially  forbad  all  forcing  of  labour:  the 
rule  to  that  effect  bearing  the  Governor-General's 
signature,  if  not  that  of  the  Emperor  himself.  Pri- 
vately, and  even  officially,  labour  was  regularly  forced. 

Governor  Von  Rechenberg,  one  of  the  best  and 
most  humane  officials  I  have  known,  himself  informed 
me  that  no  labour  could  be  forced. 

His  District  Officers  informed  me  that  if  they  forced 
labour  and  were  reported  for  it,  the  Governor  was 
very  angry  with  them;  but  that  if  they  did  not  force 
labour  the  shareholders  of  the  plantations  made 
trouble  for  them  at  the  Colonial  Office. 

It  appears  that  among  the  shareholders  are  per- 
sons of  such  great  weight  that  the  local  officials  are 
bound  to  consider  their  wishes. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
Officials  cannot  sell  Government  land:  for  that  you 
must  go  to  the  German  East  Africa  Company 
(D.O.A.S.). 

The  forcing  of  labour  is  so  managed  as  to  put  the 
finishing  touch  to  the  dehumanizing  of  the  native. 
It  is  true  that  in  some  districts,  where  natives  live 
near  the  plantations  in  good  numbers,  a  man  is  only 
required  to  put  in  thirty  days  every  four  months  with 
any  employer  he  may  be  able  to  agree  with.  Under 
this  system  the  planters  are,  more  or  less,  bound  to 
treat  their  labourers  fairly  well. 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA       13 

Examples  of  Dehumanization 

But  in  many  places  it  is  not  so  done.  Let  me  give 
a  few  examples  from  my  own  personal  observation. 

(1)  A  bridegroom  seized  at  the  church  door  from 
the  side  of  his  bride,  and  kidnapped  for  labour  at  the 
coast  a  hundred  miles  away. 

The  District  Officer  said  he  was  sorry,  but  could 
do  nothing. 

(2)  The  women  of  a  village  seized  and  detained  till 
their  husbands  redeemed  them  by  consenting  to  go 
to  the  coast  for  various  terms:  starting  at  that  very 
moment. 

(3)  Men  collected  at  night  from  their  beds,  tied 
with  rope,  taken  to  a  German  planter's  camp,  forced 
to  accept  journey-allowance  under  threat  of  sjambok, 
and  then  taken  to  the  coast  as  volunteer  labourers. 

In  one  such  case,  the  German  whom  I  interviewed 
said  he  had  an  official  license  for  so  many  men  from 
each  headman;  and  pleaded  that  his  hunters  always 
removed  the  rope  before  they  produced  their  captives. 

(4)  An  Assistant  District  Officer  summoned  a  large 
meeting  of  elders.  Eight  hundred  attended.  After 
business  was  done,  an  order  was  issued  that  none 
could  go  unless  a  young  man  came  in  his  place  ready 
to  start  for  the  coast  plantations.  This  official  said 
he  hated  the  system,  but  that  he  had  to  do  it. 

These  are  typical  ways  in  which  the  District  Offi- 
cers supplemented  the  normal  supply  of  forced  labour 
by  the  headman,  which  was  kept  up  regularly  in  some 
districts,  law  or  no  law  to  the  contrary. 

Shameless  Planters 

The  result,  of  course,  was  that  some  planters  were 
quite  shameless  about  not  providing  decent  accom- 


14       THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

modation  and  food  for  their  men:  sickness  was  rife, 
and  deaths  far  too  frequent. 

Also,  they  were  in  a  position  to  cheat  their  people 
right  and  left.  They  all  had  their  own  stores,  at  which 
food  and  clothes  were  sold,  the  price  being  written 
off  against  the  labourers'  wages.  The  result,  in  view 
of  African  nature  and  a  system  of  fines,  was  debt, 
and  until  the  debt  was  cleared  the  labourer  was  held 
to  work;  unless  he  could  get  a  District  Officer  to  en- 
force the  law  which  forbad  his  detention,  a  somewhat 
difficult  feat.  Native  Commissioners  did  help  here; 
but  where  none  was  to  be  had,  the  planter  triumphed. 
And  in  any  case  the  law  only  applied  to  labourers, 
or  was  only  extended  to  them.  Clerks  and  such-like 
were  held  in  bondage  till  the  debt  was  paid. 

This  labour  system  assumes  that  a  native  has  no 
private  interests,  no  family,  no  relatives,  no  domestic 
claims  upon  him,  and  no  food  problem  of  his  own. 
He  is  a  solitary  unit  able  to  hoe:  and  any  German 
who  can  get  him  may  take  him  at  any  moment  of  the 
day  or  night,  and  keep  him  for  at  least  one  month; 
or  with  luck  three  or  four,  or  even  more,  months. 

Conditions  of  Slavery 

Slavery  is  a  recognized  condition  under  the  Ger- 
man flag.  Slaves  may  be  sold  and  bought.  But  no 
freeman  can  become  a  slave,  and  all  babes  are  now 
born  free. 

A  slave  is  one  who  was  bought  or  stolen  or  taken 
captive,  or  the  descendant  of  such  an  one.  And  also 
all  who  ever  sought  a  chief's  protection  in  the  old 
days  of  inter-tribal  war  are  now  reckoned  as  slaves, 
as  are  their  descendants. 

A  slave  can  redeem  himself  or  herself.  Prices  range 
from  15  rupees  to  75  rupees,  according  to  age  and 
condition. 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA       15 

I  have  redeemed  several  hundreds  at  one  time  and 
another;  often  to  prevent  the  separation  of  husbands 
and  wives  under  the  laws  of  slavery. 

The  District  Officer  at  Lindi  once  told  me  his  Gov- 
ernment wished  to  abohsh  the  state  of  slavery,  and  had 
thought  of  1920  as  a  suitable  year :  but  it  could  hardly 
afford  compensation.  The  Kaiser  no  doubt  had  other 
ends  in  view  for  his  income. 

Meantime  the  system  of  slavery  was  much  in  fa- 
vour with  the  Germans. 

A  planter  could  get  hold  of  slaves  who  desired  free- 
dom; pay  their  niaster  the  money,  and  detain  the 
slaves  for  a  term  of  years  while  they  paid  back  a 
minute  sum  each  month,  the  sum  being  fixed  by  the 
German.  Or  he  could  deal  direct  with  the  master, 
and  either  hire  his  slaves  for  so  much  a  year  or  redeem 
them  as  already  explained  without  consulting  them. 

In  the  same  way  a  German  planter  or  official  who 
desired  an  obedient  concubine  could  always  buy  one 
in  this  way.  He  paid  the  redemption  money  to  the 
master,  and  kept  the  girl  and  her  certificate  of  free- 
dom until  he  had  no  longer  any  use  for  her.  She  re- 
turned home  a  free  woman. 

The  Prospect  of  Revenge 

This  point  must  not  be  missed.  Viewing  the  possi- 
bility of  the  return  of  Germans  and  the  result  to  those 
Africans  who  have  been  busy  serving  the  English 
army  in  the  colony,  we  may  well  spare  a  moment  to 
ask  how  in  the  past  the  Germans  have  treated  "trai- 
torous" natives. 

You,  Sir,  know  the  cruel  fate  of  South-West  Afri- 
can natives,  and  the  many  thousands  slaughtered  to 
satisfy  German  thirst  for  revenge. 

The  rebellion  of  1905  in  this  colony  cost  a  very  few 


16      THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

Germans  their  lives.  But  some  thirty  thousand  na- 
tives were  slaughtered  in  revenge.  Heads  were  paid 
for  at  the  coast,  one  rupee  a  head,  after  a  time ;  in  the 
earlier  days  the  so-called  "friendly  tribes"  were  per- 
mitted to  massacre  and  rape  the  tribes  from  which 
the  rebel  had  come. 

Those  who  knew  assigned  the  rebellion  to  forced 
labour  and  cruelty.  The  District  Officer  at  Lindi, 
after  "detaining"  three  Arabs  for  some  months, 
claimed  to  possess  letters  from  Cairo  and  Constan- 
tinople ordering  the  slaughter  of  all  foreigners  and 
their  friends. 

Some  of  his  fellows  were  sceptical.  But  he  had 
great  influence,  and  I  think  the  Anti-Islam  legisla- 
tion you  discovered  in  the  German  archives  dates 
back  to  his  discovery. 

It  was  frightful  revenge  for  a  very  small  matter. 
What  will  it  be,  the  revenge  on  those  who  have  helped 
the  English  to  kill  and  capture  almost  the  whole  Ger- 
man population?  No  German  will  lift  his  head  again 
until  the  country  has  been  drenched  in  native  blood: 
it  is  not  in  him  even  to  try!  And  whatever  safeguards 
a  Peace  Conference  may  devise,  an  excuse  for  an 
"expedition"  is  easily  made. 

We  know  that  here,  at  Muheza,  after  the  sudden 
visit  of  a  British  Intelligence  Officer  and  the  capture 
of  a  few  Germans,  several  Africans  were  publicly 
hanged  in  the  town;  although  no  one  here  had  any 
knowledge  of  the  coming  of  the  little  column :  it  came 
and  went  like  a  flash. 

Cruelties  During  the  War 

Of  cruelty  during  the  war  it  is  not  my  intention  to 
speak.  What  Germans  are  in  war  we  all  know  now. 
Africa  has  suffered  as  Belgium  and  Serbia,  but  in  a 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA       17 

different  degree.  We  can  say  without  fear  of  contra- 
diction that  enough  cruelty  has  been  shown  to  natives 
to  shut  the  Germans  out  from  any  just  claims  to 
govern  them  again. 

When  I  was  with  your  force  I  was  told  by  those  in 
high  command  that  natives  had  been  thrown  into  the 
bush,  their  hands  tied  behind  them,  to  starve  to  death; 
and  that  women,  whose  babies  interfered  with  the 
carrying  of  loads,  had  to  see  their  babies  thrown  into 
the  bush  to  die. 

Of  brutal  executions  there  is  more  than  evidence 
enough,  German  photographs  supplying  corrobora- 
tion, while  the  tales  brought  back  to  us  by  men  who 
were  carriers  with  the  German  forces  are  damning, 
and  my  teachers  who  were  in  chains  and  prison  be- 
cause I  and  my  staff  are  English  have  a  sad  tale  to 
tell  —  fourteen  died  under  the  treatment. 

r  do  not  dwell  on  these  things.  We  may  be  told 
they  are  due  to  war  madness,  and  the  war  will  end. 
Yet  I  cannot  pass  them  by  in  silence.  For  to  my  mind 
they  belong  to  a  madness  that  will  not  end;  a  madness 
that  made  the  war,  and,  if  it  can,  will  make  another 
before  long. 

The  German  Attitude 

It  remains  then  for  me  to  sum  up  the  situation. 
German  rule  is  impossible.  The  German  does  not 
understand  the  elementary  principles  of  humane  Gov- 
ernment. He  is  efficient,  he  is  polite,  he  is  correct  in 
his  behaviour  and  in  his  official  attitude,  but  he  is  a 
German.  And  being  a  German  he  sees  a  native  as  a 
tool ;  he  is  cruel  and  inhuman,  and  imder  him  the  Afri- 
can must  become  a  slave,  or  die, 

I  am  quite  aware  that  some  Germans  dislike  this 
system:  as  some  English  planters  assure  me  they  ad- 


18       THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

mire  it.   It  is  none  the  less  true  that  Germans,  as  an 
empire,  approve  it,  and  Britons,  as  an  empire,  hate  it. 

I  myself  can  quote  cases  of  cruelty  to  natives  on 
the  part  of  Britons:  but  they  are  so  exceptional  as  to 
deserve  silence. 

We  must  judge  things  on  the  average.  And  the 
average  German  is  incompetent  to  rule  Africans.  The 
Peace  Conference  that  shall  allow  him  to  try  again 
will  be  guilty  of  the  wilful  betrayal  of  liberty,  and  of 
the  rights  of  the  weakest  people  of  the  earth. 

There  is  one  point  raised  by  honest  enquirers  I 
must  try  to  meet. 

Why,  it  is  asked,  if  Germans  are  so  cruel,  have  their 
soldiers  stuck  so  closely  to  them  during  the  later 
stages  of  the  war? 

Several  reasons  are,  on  the  surface,  evident  to  us 
who  know  both  parties  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
people. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  easy  to  run  away  from  a 
German  force.  My  teachers,  who  were  carried  off  in 
chains  and  badly  treated,  found,  when  they  were  un- 
chained and  put  to  carriers'  work,  that  escape  was 
almost  impossible.  A  few  got  away:  while  several 
others  tried  and  failed.  Much  more  difficult  is  it  for 
a  soldier,  who  may  not  lag  behind  as  a  sick  carrier 
can.  And  of  course  the  penalty  of  failure  to  make 
good  an  escape  is  frightful! 

Secondly,  Africans  do  not  fancy  running  away  from 
their  rations;  and  therefore  are  not  likely  to  do  so 
except  within  reasonable  distance  of  home.  A  force 
far  from  home  will  have  few  deserters. 

Thirdly,  in  waterless  country  where  the  few  water- 
places  are  camping-gounds  for  troops  and  porters, 
fugitives  have  a  very  poor  time.  My  teachers  who 
did  escape  nearly  died  of  thirst,  and  were  only  saved 
by  coming  on  English  troops  at  a  water-hole. 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA       19 

Fourthly,  the  Germans  filled  their  troops  with  lies 
about  the  brutality  of  the  British,  and  the  fate  of  all 
deserters.  This  we  know  from  those  who  deserted 
early  in  the  campaign,  when  escape  was  easier,  before 
the  great  retreat  began. 

Only  a  Matter  of  Time 

Yet  one  more  reason  is  at  hand.  The  Germans  have 
impressed  on  their  men  that  while,  through  force  of 
circumstances,  they  cannot  resist  the  English  in  this 
Colony,  yet  in  Europe  they  are  quite  invincible.  Their 
return  to  the  colony  is  therefore  only  a  matter  of 
time,  and  on  their  return  every  deserter  will  pay  the 
dire  penalty  of  his  crime.  Now,  Sir,  you  know  how 
good  a  defence  the  Germans  have  put  up,  and  how, 
favoured  enormously  by  the  size  of  the  country  and 
their  local  knowledge,  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  them  has  given  us  an  extraordinarily  difficult  task. 
The  Africans  are  not  fools;  they  admire  com-age  and 
cunning;  and  seeing  what  Germans  can  do  here,  they 
have  without  doubt  accepted  their  leaders'  tales  of 
England's  failure  at  home.  My  teachers  in  the  Lindi 
district  were  oflficially  informed  quite  early  in  the  war 
that  Germans  ruled  England,  that  Scotland  was  in 
Austrian  hands;  and  Ireland?  Well!  Ireland  had  been 
given  to  the  —  Turks !  This  was  publicly  announced 
at  Lindi  by  the  District  Officer  at  the  same  time  that 
he  promised  widows  of  English  soldiers  to  faithful 
Africans ! 

Let  it  be  recorded  to  the  honour  of  one  German, 
the  most  decent-hving  planter  in  that  district,  that 
meeting  my  people  on  their  way  home  from  Lindi, 
and  hearing  from  them  this  latest  news,  he  told  them 
it  was  lies,  all  hes,  and  expressed  strong  views  about 
the  immorality  of  the  government's  policy  of  falsi- 
fying the  news. 


20       THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

Germans  and  Non-Germans 

We  must  add  to  all  these  reasons  the  fact  that  these 
Africans  are  very  faithful  to  leaders  whom  they  know 
well,  and  never  more  so  than  when  things  are  not  go- 
ing well,  and  it  is  also  true  that  many  Germans,  how- 
ever cruel  in  punishment,  have  an  affable  way  with 
Africans  to  whom  they  are  accustomed,  not  showing 
the  same  colour  prejudice  that  so  many  Britons  un- 
fortunately possess.  Germans,  I  think,  divide  the 
world  into  Germans  and  Non-Germans.  Colour  is  a 
detail,  concerning  non-Germans  amongst  themselves, 
so  that  while  Africans  must  always  fear  them,  with 
dog-like  fear,  Germans  may  make  pets  of  a  few,  pets 
to  be  kept  in  order  with  the  whip. 

This  last  point  was  clearly  emphasized  in  the  pro- 
posal to  legalize  marriage  between  Germans  and  Afri- 
can women.  A  bill  to  this  effect  was  taken  into  the 
Reichstag:  I  did  not  see  its  fate. 

Such,  Sir,  is  the  condition  of  slavery  out  of  which 
your  force  delivered  the  people  of  this  Colony.  And 
such  is  the  state  to  which  some  in  England  and  on  the 
Continent  desire  to  restore  the  Africans.  In  this  civil 
area,  British  rule  has  already  begun  to  make  itself  felt, 
and  the  people  are  rejoicing  in  it.  Already  the  Adminis- 
tration has  worked  wonders,  in  spite  of  inevitable 
hindrances  due  to  our  state  of  war. 

Is  it  conceivable  that  any  man  of  honour,  any  man 
of  compassion,  can  for  a  moment  consider  handing 
these  Africans  back  to  the  Kaiser's  rule? 

Final  Plea  for  Liberty 

And  now  I  must  have  done :  for  I  have  said  all  that 
can  be  contained  in  a  letter,  and  quite  enough  to  show 
how  impossible  is  German  rule  in  this  Colony. 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA      21 

I  know  that  your  sympathy  is  with  me,  as  also  I 
know  that  on  naval  and  military  grounds  no  sane 
man  will  vote  for  restoring  to  the  Kaiser  this  strate- 
gic point  of  attack.  For  once  returned  here,  Germany 
can  threaten  not  the  adjacent  colonies  only,  but  Rho- 
desia and  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  while  with  a 
submarine  base  here  she  can  abolish  all  our  trade  with 
India  and  the  East  and  close  the  Suez  Canal  against 
us. 

Yet  I  would  make  one  final  appeal  on  the  ground, 
not  of  expediency  and  policy,  but  of  devotion  to  lib- 
erty. 

The  sacrifices  of  blood  and  money  already  made 
by  Great  Britain  and  her  Allies  have  gone  far  to  make 
good  their  pledge  that  they  will  be  free  or  die. 

Freedom  is  now  within  reach,  and,  by  God's  good 
grace,  the  Entente  Powers  have  no  fear  of  a  failure 
that  would  be  a  living  death. 

In  this  hour  of  approaching  victory,  then,  shall  we 
do  honour  to  the  blood  outpoured?  Or  shall  we  rob 
our  dear  Dead  of  their  triumph?  In  our  treatment  of 
Africa  we  shall  find  our  answer.  If  we  raise  liberty 
to  a  throne  so  high  that  her  scepter  can  reach  to  the 
remotest  African  tribe,  then  indeed  are  our  Dead 
ones  justified,  and  their  blood  avenged. 

"If  Liberty  be  Lost!" 

But  if,  at  the  eleventh  hour,  we  permit  war-weari- 
ness to  numb  our  aspirations,  peace  parties  to  warp 
our  judgments,  and  interested  counsellors  to  deceive 
our  minds;  if,  that  is,  we  end  the  war  before  we  have 
set  Africa  and  Armenia  free;  liberty  will  have  been 
lost.  Vain  the  sacrifice  of  blood ;  profitless  the  pouring 
out  of  cash ;  worse  than  useless  the  sorrows  of  a  broken 
world;  if  liberty,  Christ's  liberty,  be  lost! 


22       THE  BLACK  SLAVES  OF  PRUSSIA 

Of  course,  no  man  who  has  shared  the  fighting  will, 
for  one  moment,  question  our  duty  of  going  on  till 
liberty  rule  the  world.  The  question  comes  from 
those  at  home  who  feel  the  pressure  of  the  war,  but 
do  not  see  its  real  meaning.  It  is  my  hope  that  this 
letter  may  help  some  of  them  to  see  what  the  war 
really  involves. 

I  am  afraid  men  of  my  own  cloth  are  largely  to 
blame  that  so  many  Christians  sum  up  this  war  as 
"God's  fatherly  chastisement,"  and  would  welcome 
its  speedy  close  as  a  sign  of  His  renewed  favour.  Oh! 
if  only  we  could  rid  our  minds  of  such  cant  and  lying 
slander!  I  admit  our  share  in  the  sins  that  have  made 
modern  Europe;  I  admit  we  pay  our  share  of  the  bill 
those  sins  themselves  present  against  us.  But  God? 
I  see  God  calling  on  the  Entente  Powers  to  redouble 
their  patience,  and  stiffen  their  shoulders  for  the  final 
fight.  I  hear  Him  summon  us  all  to  carry  on  this  war 
till  the  world-powers  yield,  and  human  liberty  be 
crowned  with  Christ,  om-  Liberator, 

"  Enslaved  to  Cash  and  Caste  " 

The  Pope  reminds  us  that  Christ  is  Prince  of  Peace. 
Indeed,  He  is.  Prince  of  Peace  between  God  and  man, 
of  peace  between  man  and  man;  Prince  of  the  uni- 
versal brotherhood  in  which  eternal  Love  may  be 
found  revealed.  But  of  a  peace  between  ruling  class 
and  ruling  class,  while  the  ruled  are  enslaved  to  cash 
and  caste;  of  such  a  peace  Christ  is  not  the  Prince. 
The  Peace  of  which  the  Christ  I  serve  is  Prince  will 
give  "peace  at  home"  even  to  Africans.  And  with 
no  other  sort  of  peace  will  God  wish  us  to  make  terms. 

As  a  last  word,  let  me  say  just  this.  Since  it  is  evi- 
dently quite  impossible  to  hold  enquiries  in  Africa, 
or  to  refer  these  questions  to  the  people,  it  behoves 


THE  BLACK  SLAVES         A    000  132  769 

le  who  dares  to  champion  the  Africans  to  throw 
)wn  such  a  stake  as  will  carry  conviction  to  the 
British  mind.  This  letter  is  my  stake.  For  if  the  Ger- 
mans return  to  rule  here  it  will  cost  me  all  I  hold  most 
dear:  my  work,  my  diocese,  and  my  numberless  rela- 
tions with  the  people  of  East  Africa.  All  this  I  am 
glad  to  risk  that  these  people  may  be  set  free,  and  our 
Government  allowed  to  fulfil  its  plighted  word,  and 
raise  liberty  to  a  universal  throne. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

•i^FRANK  ZANZIBAR, 
Head  of  the  Universities'  Mission  in  the  Eastern 
Districts  of  German  East  Africa 

To  Lieut. -General  the  Rt.  Hon.  J.  C.  Smuts,  K.G., 
London,  England. 


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